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The flag of the United States of America 
has thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, 
and forty-eight white stars on a blue field. 

The stripes represent the thirteen original 
colonies, which on July 4, 1776, declared their 
independence from England; and the stars 
represent the forty-eight states which now 
form the Union. 

The color red signifies courage and valor; 
the white, purity of thought, aim and pur¬ 
pose; the blue, charity and brotherly love; 
thus proclaiming the glad tidings of 
Liberty—not license, 

Equality—not class-distinction, 
Fraternity—not anarchy. 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


IN TWO PARTS 

PART I 

THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF A CITIZEN AS 
PROVIDED FOR IN THE NATIONAL AND 
STATE CONSTITUTIONS AND THE 
CITY CHARTER 

PART II 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA 


BY 

J. J. ZMRHAL 

Principal of the Theodore Herzl School, Chicago 


ISSUED BY 

The Illinois Society of 
The Colonial Dames of America 
Chicago 
1920 



Copyright, 1920 

By Frances Lord Blatchford 



PRESS OF 

THE NEW ERA PRINTING COMPANY 
LANCASTER, PA. 

©CU615573 

'VvC [ 


FOREWORD 


J. J. Zmrhal, the author of “A Civic 
Primer,” came in his boyhood from Bohemia 
to America, and grew to manhood appre¬ 
ciating the ideals and aspirations of his 
adopted country. Desiring to enlighten and 
instruct other people coming from the Old 
World, he wrote this message first for his own 
countrymen in their own tongue, that they 
might immediately on arrival read and know 
of the blessings and benefits of their new 
home. Later the book was translated into 
Polish, Lithuanian and Italian. 

The Illinois Society of the Colonial Dames 
of America, believing in Mr. Zmrhal and his 
mission, has published these little books in 
the hope that they may be of service in point¬ 
ing the way to the privileges and duties of 
American citizenship. 

EDITIONS 

English-Bohemian .Published 1912 

English .Published 1912 

English-Polish .Published 1914 

English-Lithuanian .Published 1915 

English-Italian .Published 1918 

English (revised) . .Published 1919 









I 


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A CIVIC PRIMER 


PART I 

THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF A CITIZEN AS 
PROVIDED FOR IN THE NATIONAL AND 
STATE CONSTITUTIONS AND THE 
CITY CHARTER 


1 

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Bl 

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4 



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THE VALUE OF CITIZENSHIP 


The great men of this country, George 
Washington, Abraham Lincoln and many 
others, lived and died for the rights of men. 
They have placed the destiny of this nation 
and the destiny of the individual in the hands 
of the people. Are you enjoying these rights ? 
If you are not, you may do so, for you can 
become, in due time, a citizen of the United 
States of America. 

Remember, however, that you are taking 
upon yourself great responsibilities as well as 
receiving rights for which many heroes have 
given their property, their blood, even their 
lives. To accept this priceless gift and to do 
nothing in return for it, is not worthy of any 
good and honest man. As you will see later, 
your happiness, your safety, even your daily 
bread, depend upon your doing your citizen’s 
duties in the right way. If it were not for 
good citizens who know how to perform their 
duties, we should not be safe in our homes; 
we should be abused and oppressed by people 


6 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


stronger than ourselves, just as people were 
abused and oppressed in the Middle Ages; 
our children would not be educated and we 
should be unable to make our living. 

It is the business of every government, in 
every country, to see that its people are pro¬ 
tected, as far as possible, from abuse, oppres¬ 
sion, theft and the dangers of accident and 
disease. The better the government, the better 
a citizen is protected and the happier and 
more prosperous he becomes. In every coun¬ 
try where there is a poor government, the 
great body of the people suffers. In our coun¬ 
try, the men who take charge of the govern¬ 
ment are chosen by the people; therefore, the 
abler the people are to choose, the better gov¬ 
ernment they will have and the happier they 
will be. 

Is it not important, then, for you to become 
a good citizen, one who knows what is right 
and is willing to do it ? 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


7 


HOW TO BECOME A NATURALIZED 
CITIZEN 

All persons who are not citizens of the 
United States by birth, or by Act of Congress, 
may become citizens by naturalization. 

The act of naturalization is divided into 
two parts: 

1. The Declaration of Intention called First 
Papers; 

2. The Petition for Naturalization called 
Final Papers. 

These papers are issued by certain law 
courts: the United States District Courts, 
County Circuit and Superior Courts, and 
City Courts. 

I. The First Papers.—If you are at least 
eighteen (18) years old and reside within the 
jurisdiction of the law courts named above, 
you can obtain your First Papers by filing 
there, under oath or affirmation, a paper de¬ 
claring your intention to become a citizen of 
the United States and to renounce allegiance 
to any and all foreign rulers, states, or sov¬ 
ereignties. You must also give your name. 



8 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


age, occupation, personal description, place 
of birth, last foreign residence and allegiance, 
date of arrival, name of vessel, if any, in 
which you came to the United States, and your 
present place of residence. 

II. The Final Papers.—After you have lived 
at least five (5) years in the United States 
and at least one (1) year in a particular state, 
and, if not less than two (2) years nor more 
than seven (7) years have elapsed since you 
filed your First Papers, you can obtain your 
Pinal Papers by filing a petition for naturali¬ 
zation in one of the law courts named above. 
This petition must be signed in your own hand¬ 
writing and contain the information required 
by law as to yourself, your arrival in this 
country and your family. You must also ask 
at least two persons who are already citizens 
of the United States, to testify that they have 
known you to be a resident of the United 
States for at least five (5) years continuously, 
and of the state for at least one (1) year im¬ 
mediately preceding, and that you are of 
good moral character and qualified to be ad¬ 
mitted as a citizen. The testimony of these 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


9 


witnesses is attached to your petition; and if 
you arrived in this country after June 29, 
1906, there must also he attached a certificate 
from the Department of Commerce and 
Labor, giving dates of arrival, taking out 
of First Papers, etc. 

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED FOR 
CITIZENSHIP 

In order to receive your Final Papers as a 
citizen, you— 

1 . Must have resided in the United States 

continuously for at least five years im¬ 
mediately preceding and in a particular 
state for at least one year immediately 
preceding; 

2 . Must intend to become a citizen of the 

United States and to reside permanently 
therein and to renounce all allegiance to 
any foreign ruler, state or sovereignty; 

3. Must be of good moral character; 

4. Must not be a polygamist; 

5. Must not be an anarchist; 

6 . Must not have been denied admission as a 

citizen, or, if denied, the cause therefor 
must no longer exist; 



10 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


7. Must speak the English language unless 

physically unable; 

8 . Must know the principles of the United 

States government and of the Constitu¬ 
tion and be loyal to them. 

After you have applied for your second or 
final papers you will have to wait ninety (90) 
days to get them. 

Many people have been disappointed be¬ 
cause they did not know this. In some cases, 
people wanted their papers in time to take 
part in the Presidential or other elections, 
but had applied too late to receive them in 
time. No papers are given out within thirty 
(30) days before an election. 

To avoid all disappointments, and to enable 
yourself to enter upon your rights and priv¬ 
ileges as a citizen at the earliest possible mo¬ 
ment do these four things: 

1 . Get your First Papers as soon as you come 

to this Country; 

2. Ask for your Final Papers as soon as you 

have lived here five (5) years; 

3. Begin to study the English language at 

once, just as soon as you can after land- 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


11 


ing. English is taught free in the Public 
Schools; 

4. Learn all you can about the duties of a 
citizen, and the principles of American 
Government. 

As a naturalized citizen, you will have all 
the rights and duties of a native-born citizen, 
except that you cannot become President or 
Vice-President of the United States. The 
rights of such a citizen are: 

1. To take part at the primary elections in 

nominating candidates for state and 
municipal (city) offices; such as the gov¬ 
ernor of the state, the mayor of the city, 
the aldermen, etc.; 

2. To vote at the election for the candidates 

so nominated; 

3. To become a candidate for any office, ex¬ 

cept that of the President or Vice-Presi¬ 
dent ; 

4. To own government lands and to hold gov¬ 

ernment positions which are given only to 
citizens; 

5. To claim the protection of the United 

States government when in a foreign 
country. 



12 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


The question whether a naturalized citizen 
can visit his former home without fear of 
difficulty of any kind need trouble no one. 
A naturalized citizen is as safe as any other 
American citizen in any country. There have 
been cases where naturalized citizens have 
had difficulties with foreign officials, but such 
cases are rare, and in each of these cases the 
citizens could have appealed to the American 
Consul and obtained help. 

Only a citizen of this country can get em¬ 
ployment from the Federal Government, the 
State, or the City. American citizenship is 
therefore of great value to you, and you 
should qualify for it at once. 

VOTING 

Having obtained full citizenship you have 
the right to vote. If you have lived in the 
same ward for at least a year, go to the place 
appointed on registration day, present your 
papers, and your name will be registered. 
You must learn how to vote intelligently. 
First, read in the newspapers what the can¬ 
didates are doing. Read more than one news- 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


13 


paper ; form your own opinion after you have 
obtained the facts. Be independent. Do you 
say that this is hard? Yes, it is, but it is still 
harder to give up lives for the good of the 
country, and that is what many noble Amer¬ 
icans have done. 

On election day do not sell your vote or be 
influenced by any one. Go into the booth to 
mark the ballot just as you think it should be 
marked. If you vote the whole party ticket, 
make a cross in the party circle. If there is 
a candidate for whom you would like to vote 
on the ticket of another party, do not use the 
party circle, but mark a cross in the square 
before the name of each candidate for whom 
you wish to vote. Be sure that you do not 
vote for two candidates for the same office, as 
in that case your vote would be thrown out 
without being counted. 



14 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


THE NATIONAL OR FEDERAL 
GOVERNMENT 

The United States of America is a Republic. 
In a Republic the people themselves rule, 
for they elect their own representatives. The 
National or Federal Government is based upon 
the Constitution of the United States, which 
divides the government into three branches or 
departments: 

1. The Executive—The President, 

2. The Legislative—The Congress. 

3. The Judicial—The Supreme Court and 

various other courts. 

I. THE EXECUTIVE—THE PRESIDENT 

The President is the executive head of the 
nation and his office is the most influential 
one in the country. The President is the 
Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, 
and he can, through the Supreme Court, pros¬ 
ecute all violators of the United States laws. 
The President has the power to fill, by ap¬ 
pointment, Federal offices, many of them ex¬ 
tremely important, such as the following: 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


15 


Secretary of State, 

Secretary of the Treasury, 

Secretary of War, 

Secretary of the Navy, 

Secretary of the Interior, 

Postmaster General, 

Attorney General, 

Secretary of Agriculture, 

Secretary of Commerce, 

Secretary of Labor. 

These with the Vice-President form the 
President’s Cabinet or Council. He also ap¬ 
points 

The Chief Justice and Judges of the 
Supreme Court, 

Ambassadors and Consuls to foreign 
countries, 

Military and Naval Officers, etc. 

In his annual message to the Congress the 
President can suggest what laws are needed 
for the good of the country. This message is 
usually a written or printed document in 
which the President gives his opinion on 
public questions. In this way, if he wishes, he 
can touch upon all the needs of the country. 



16 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


He can also send a special message to Con¬ 
gress when he feels this to be necessary and 
urge the passing of a law which he believes 
to be for the good of the country. The strong¬ 
est weapon in the hand of the President is the 
Veto Power. If the President believes that 
any measure Congress has passed is bad, he 
can delay its becoming a law by ‘ ‘ vetoing ’ ’ it. 
“Veto” means “I forbid.” When a bill is 
vetoed it cannot become a law unless it is 
passed again by a two-thirds vote of Congress. 

Only a native-iborn citizen can become 
President of the United States. The Presi¬ 
dential Election takes place every four years, 
on the Tuesday following the first Monday in 
November. Presidential election years are as 
follows: 1920, 1924, 1928, etc. 

2 . THE LEGISLATIVE—THE CONGRESS 

The Congress is the body that makes the 
laws for the United States, and is composed of 
two Houses: the House of Eepresentatives 
and the Senate. Its duty is to care for the 
general welfare of the people and to legislate 
for the good of the country. It has the 
power to 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


17 


1. Levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts and 

excises; 

2 . Borrow money on credit of the United 

States ; 

3. Regulate commerce; 

4. Pass naturalization and immigration laws; 

5. Coin money; 

6 . Declare war; 

7. Raise and support the Army, the Navy, etc. 
Any bill to become a law, must pass both 

Houses, and then be signed by the President 
of the United States. If the President vetoes 
the bill, it is sent back to the Congress. If 
two-thirds of the Congress vote to pass the 
bill over the President’s veto, it can become 
a law in spite of his opposition. 

The House of Representatives 

The House of Representatives is composed 
of members chosen for a term of two (2) 
years by the people of the several states. The 
number of representatives from each state 
varies according to its population. There are 
now (1919) 435 members in the House. These 
representatives (called also congressmen) 



18 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


must be present at the sessions (meetings) of 
the Congress, to introduce, support and vote 
for bills which are intended for the good of 
the whole nation. They elect their own pre¬ 
siding officer, who is called “Speaker of the 
House.” This Speaker holds an important 
office; he appoints committees; decides who 
has the “right to the floor,” that is, the right 
to speak; and he can cast the deciding vote 
in case of a tie. 


The Senate 

The Senate is composed of two (2) mem¬ 
bers from each state, elected for a term of six 
(6) years. As there are forty-eight (48) states 
there are ninety-six (96) members (called 
senators). The presiding officer in the Senate 
is the Vice-President of the United States. 
The duties of a senator are about the same as 
those of a representative. 

Since the Congress is such a powerful body, 
and has such a great influence upon :the 
welfare of the people, it is needless to say 
that every citizen should do his best to elect 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


19 


good men to Congress who will support good 
laws and work unselfishly for the Nation. 

3. THE JUDICIAL—THE SUPREME COURT 
AND VARIOUS OTHER COURTS 

The Supreme Court is the highest court of 
the Judicial branch of the Government and 
consists of the Chief Justice and eight asso¬ 
ciate justices or judges. These judges are 
appointed by the President with the consent 
of the Senate and they hold their offices for 
life, or during good behavior. This branch of 
the Government decides whether laws made 
by the Congress are in accordance with the 
Constitution of the United States. 

The City of Washington in the District of 
Columbia is the Capital City of the United 
States and the seat of the National Govern¬ 
ment. The President’s residence there is 
called the White House.” The Congress 
and the Supreme Court meet in the building 
called the “Capitol” and all the departments 
of the Government occupy different buildings 
in Washington, in which city the affairs of the 
Nation are administered. 





20 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


THE STATE GOVERNMENT 

The State Government is also divided into 
three branches, or departments: 

1. The Executive—The Governor. 

2. The Legislative—The General Assembly 

or State Legislature. 

3. The Judicial—The Courts. 

I. THE EXECUTIVE—THE GOVERNOR 

The Governor is the executive head of the 
state government and is chosen for a term of 
four years by the direct vote of the people. 
The capital city of the state is the seat of the 
government and the residence of the governor 
during his term of office. 

The Governor appoints the officials for such 
boards and commissions as are necessary to 
conduct the financial, educational and char¬ 
itable affairs of the state. He is Commander- 
in-Chief of the State Militia, and can send sol¬ 
diers to any part of the state where they are 
needed. This he does in case of riots, insur¬ 
rections, or mob-gatherings for unlawful pur¬ 
poses, to preserve order and insure safety to 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


21 


peaceful citizens. He has also the power of 
veto and, hence, much influence upon the 
making of the state laws. The votes of two- 
thirds of the State Legislature are needed to 
pass a law over the Governor’s veto. 

2 . THE LEGISLATIVE—THE GENERAL AS¬ 
SEMBLY OR STATE LEGISLATURE 

The General Assembly, or State Legisla¬ 
ture, is the body that makes laws for the state. 
It can pass any law for the general welfare 
of the state, but these laws must be in har"- 
mony with the Constitution of the United 
States. Each state passes its own laws, and 
hence there are many differences in the laws 
of the different states (48) which form these 
United States. 

The Governor can influence the making of 
laws by the State Legislature in the same way 
in which the President influences law-making 
in the Congress, for laws are passed in the 
State Legislature just as laws are passed in 
the United States Congress. 

Its organization also is similar to that of 
the Congress of the United States. It con- 



22 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


sists of two Houses—the House of Represen¬ 
tatives and the Senate. 

The House of Representatives 

The House of Representatives in the state 
elects its presiding officer, who is called 
“Speaker of the House.” He appoints com¬ 
mittees to examine the bills presented to the 
Legislature and to report them to the House 
for adoption just as bills are presented to the 
Congress. State representatives are elected 
for terms of two years. 

The Senate . 

The Senate has for its presiding officer the 
Lieutenant Governor. State senators are 
elected for terms of four years. 

3. THE JUDICIAL—THE COURTS 

Each state has its judicial branch, its su¬ 
preme court and other courts, similar to those 
of the National Government at Washington. 
The judges of the state courts perform the 
same duties for the state that the federal 
judges perform for the United States. 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


23 


THE CITY GOVERNMENT 

The city government is based upon a char¬ 
ter granted by the State Legislature, and has 
two branches: 

1. The Executive—The Mayor. 

2. The Legislative—The City Council. 

I. THE EXECUTIVE—THE MAYOR 

The Mayor is the executive head of the 
city and is chosen for a term of years by 
direct vote of the citizens at the regular city 
elections which take place on the Tuesday 
after the first Monday in April. The mayor 
is the presiding officer of the city council. He 
has the power of veto and appoints many im¬ 
portant officials, such as 

Members of the Board of Education, 
Chief of Police, 

Chief of the Fire Department, 
Commissioner of the Public Works, 
Commissioner of Health, 

Superintendent of the Water Bureau, 
City Engineer, 

City Sealer, etc., etc. 



24 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


From the foregoing it is clear that the edu¬ 
cation of your children, your safety and that 
of your family, the cleanliness of the city, 
and public decency, all depend directly upon 
the kind of Mayor elected. 

It is important to note, therefore, what kind 
of a man the candidate for mayor is, and 
what he promises to do; also whether he is 
strong enough and fearless enough to carry 
out his promises. 

2 . THE LEGISLATIVE*—THE CITY 
COUNCIL 

The City Council is the body that makes 
the laws governing the city. Its members are 
called aldermen, or councilmen; and the laws 
passed by the Council are called ordinances. 
These ordinances must not conflict with the 
Constitution of the United States, with the 
Constitution of the State, or with the City 
Charter. The organization of the City Coun¬ 
cil differs from that of the Congress and that 
of the State Legislature in that it has but one 
House—or deliberative body—while the other 
bodies have each two Houses. The presiding 
officer of the Council is the Mayor. 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


25 


Passing an ordinance is, then, a simpler 
matter than passing a bill in the Congress or 
in the State Legislature, because there is but 
one House. If the Mayor vetoes an ordi¬ 
nance, votes of two-thirds of the Council are 
necessary to pass it over his veto. 

The City Council gives franchises, that is, 
the right to do business, to public utility cor¬ 
porations ; such as gas companies, electric 
light companies, street-car companies, tele¬ 
phone companies, etc., before they are per¬ 
mitted to operate. If the City Council is 
made up of able and honest men, it will not 
give a franchise to a company without as¬ 
surance that the company will give good serv¬ 
ice at reasonable rates to the people. Fre¬ 
quently, the companies try to control the 
Council: they contribute money to the elec¬ 
tion campaign fund of this or that alderman; 
there have been cases where aldermen have 
been offered special favors and even bribes, 
by certain companies, for their votes on 
franchises. This is the way in which the 
people may be robbed of good service and rea¬ 
sonable rates if they are not watchful. If 



26 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


the people will not vote, or if they are careless 
about choosing their candidates, they cannot 
expect good laws, and deserve what is sure to 
come to them from their carelessness in not 
performing their duties as citizens. It is 
much better to be active and let no oppor¬ 
tunity go by without making a stand for good 
government and the public welfare. 

Election of Aldermen 
Cities are divided into wards; each ward 
elects one or two aldermen to represent it in 
the City Council. Aldermen are elected at 
the regular city elections, the Tuesday after 
the first Monday in April. A candidate for 
alderman must be a citizen with full right to 
vote, must reside in the ward in which he is 
a candidate, and must have been a resident of 
the city during the year just before the elec¬ 
tion. 

The Aldermen and the Ward 

The duty of the aldermen is to take care of 
the interests of the ward they represent. Good 
citizenship begins with the ward; indeed, it 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


27 


begins farther back, it begins in the precinct, 
the smaller division of the ward. It is impos¬ 
sible for you to do great things in State or 
National government, if you can not, or will 
not, take an interest in the affairs of your own 
precinct—in the government of your own 
ward. 

Let us try, then, to answer these questions 
that every citizen should be able to answer. 
What does the ward expect from its aider- 
men? What should the ward expect? What 
should a private citizen expect? 

It is self-evident that the aldermen are ex¬ 
pected to vote for laws that are to benefit the 
whole city, for these laws will help the ward 
also; but there are special things in each ward 
to be looked after, and it is the duty of the 
aldermen to do this work. Such things are: 

1 . Cleanliness: 

The city pays money for cleaning the streets 
and alleys, and for the removal of garbage. 
Each ward is entitled to a certain amount of 
attention. If in any ward, this cleaning is 
poorly done, if the number of teams removing 
garbage is not sufficient, if garbage is dumped 



28 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


in the ward in places where it will injure the 
health of the people, the aldermen can do 
much to make things better. If they do not 
do this, the citizens should ask them to do so, 
either individually, or, still better, as a body. 

2. Light: 

The same can be said about street-lighting; 
many crimes and accidents would be pre¬ 
vented if all the streets were well-lighted. 
But in some places this matter is badly 
neglected. The aldermen can and should take 
it upon themselves to see that good lighting is 
provided everywhere. On the other hand, 
citizens should see to it that street lamps are 
not wantonly broken by children and mis¬ 
chievous youths. 

3. Safety: 

The aldermen can prevent the laying of 
tracks and the stretching of dangerous wires 
in places where they would endanger the free 
passing of people, or where they would en¬ 
croach upon public property. Aggressive, 
forceful intervention by the aldermen will 
surely prevent any of these things. If the al¬ 
dermen will not do their duty on their own 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


29 


initiative, the citizens should appeal to them; 
such appeal, if supported by a strong body of 
voters, will often bring good results. 

4. Car Service and Telephone Service: 

Even here, the alderman assistance is val¬ 
uable. Are the cars dirty or poorly heated? 
Is the car service poor ? Is the telephone serv¬ 
ice all that it should be? Your alderman can 
make changes for the better in these things, if 
you will stand back of him and give him 
proper support. 

All the foregoing things you have a right 
to expect and to demand as a citizen and a 
voter. There are some things, however, that 
citizens should not ask and should not expect. 
These things are the numerous little personal 
favors that conflict with the ordinances and 
the city regulations. Many of these have to 
do with the fire ordinances and with the health 
ordinances. Do not ask your alderman to 
help you get a building permit that you have 
not been able to get by yourself because your 
plan conflicts with the building law; do not 
feel bitter towards him if he will not get it for 
you—you ought not to have it. Do not ask 



30 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


him to help you to evade the requirements of 
the health department in regard to preven¬ 
tion of disease, proper care of toilets or the 
care of domestic animals, all of which are for 
the best interests of yourself and your neigh¬ 
bors. Do not ask your alderman to save you 
from putting down a new sidewalk in place of 
the dangerous old one in front of your house; 
do not ask him to delay paving your street. 
Remember that every cent paid for these im¬ 
provements will come back to you in the in¬ 
creased value of your property; that is, the 
property with good sidewalks and well-paved 
streets is worth more than that which has no 
sidewalks and where the street is unpaved. 
And do not forget that, in time, all the streets 
will be paved and that you will only be delay¬ 
ing a good and absolutely necessary work. Be 
a progressive citizen, and share in the expense 
of carrying on the good work of the govern¬ 
ment gladly and willingly. 

Health Department 

As it is the duty of the City Government to 
promote the welfare of all the people, it has a 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


31 


department devoted to Public Health. It is 
foolish to fight with the medical inspectors 
and school authorities, or to refuse to follow 
the advice of those who are in charge of your 
public health. Putting a red card on your 
door, when your child is sick with diphtheria 
or other contagious disease, is done to prevent 
the spreading of the disease; excluding from 
school those children whose brothers and sis¬ 
ters are ill is for the same reason. Since you 
know what it is to suffer from such a disease, 
are you not willing that others should be saved 
from this suffering? Or would you be so in¬ 
human as to wish that your neighbors should 
suffer as you have suffered? By protecting 
others you are really protecting yourself and 
your family, for, if everybody would follow 
the advice of the authorities, soon there would 
be no diseases; or at least they would be so 
greatly diminished that there would be much 
less danger from them. 

A good citizen will be careful not to inter¬ 
fere with the work of the Health Department 
and will do all he can to prevent sickness, tak¬ 
ing pains to learn how that can best be done. 



32 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


Remember that it is hard to cure disease but 
easy to prevent it. Prevention is far better 
than cure. All the advice given by the city 
authorities is for your own good and that of 
your family and neighbors. 

The Health Department inspects' milk, other 
food stuffs, bakeries, butcher-shops, fish- 
stores, groceries, restaurants, etc., in order to 
prevent the sale of unwholesome or contami¬ 
nated food which would lead to sickness. The 
same is done with the drinking water; people 
are advised how to avoid sickness by boiling 
the water whenever it is found that the water 
is dangerous to health. If you are not sure 
whether the milk and food you are getting is 
clean and safe, you may have it examined— 
free —by the chemist of the Health Depart¬ 
ment. You can get free advice upon any sub¬ 
ject relating to health by applying to the 
Health authorities. 

The following is a list of some of the insti¬ 
tutions in Chicago to help sick people and 
give them proper advice. 

Cook County Hospital, 

Municipal Tuberculosis Hospital, 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


33 


Tuberculosis Clinics, 

Hospital for Contagious Diseases, 

Illinois Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary, 
Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blind¬ 
ness, 

Infant Welfare Association, 

Visiting Nurse Association, 

Birth Registration. 



34 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


CONCLUSION 

It is encouraging that, as a rule, good men 
have been nominated and elected Presidents 
and that honest and able men have, in gen¬ 
eral, been raised to the highest positions of 
trust and honor in the country. This is due 
to an intelligent interest of the voters. Each 
political party wants to succeed and tries to 
nominate men who will be pleasing to most of 
the voters. It is not just, therefore, to say 
that there is no hope for the people and that 
there is no use in striving for good govern¬ 
ment. The influential men in each party are 
watching anxiously for any change of public 
opinion, for they are trying to satisfy the ma¬ 
jority of the people. If each citizen will do 
his best to make the majority good, good will 
be the deciding element. This individual ef¬ 
fort is necessary for the welfare of the 
country. 

The right to vote in the United States is a 
trust and should always be used for the pub¬ 
lic good. A man should not vote for his own 
interests alone but for the common good of all. 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


35 


You, as much as any one else, must be active 
to help the good. Those who only complain 
about the evil in the world and never lift a 
finger to help the good along, are themselves 
the cause of the bad condition they denounce. 
It is hoped that you will recognize your own 
responsibility and have the courage and en¬ 
ergy to perform this sacred duty of a citizen, 
in this act always guarding the best interests 
of your fellow-citizens and always watching 
for the good of the whole nation. 















PART II 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 
OF AMERICA 

CONTENTS 

Chapter I. The Colonies. 

Chapter II. The Revolutionary War. 
Chapter III. The Civil War. 

Chapter IV. Conclusion. 


CHAPTER I 


THE COLONIES 

There was a time when this great country, 
which we call the United States, was nothing 
but an immense wilderness inhabited by a 
red-skinned race, the Indians. Instead of 
cities, there were small villages of wigwams, 
little huts made of bark and grass. Instead 
of roads, there were but paths through the 
forests and the endless prairies. 

The Indian desired nothing more. He did 
not care for anything but hunting, fishing 
and fighting; and these things were abun¬ 
dantly furnished him in this great American 
wilderness. Thousands upon thousands of 
buffalo were grazing on the prairies ; the for¬ 
ests were alive with deer, elk and other wild 
animals; the rivers were filled with fish— 
pickerel, salmon, bass; and there were many 
tribes of Indians to fight with each, other. 
With his bow and arrow, the Indian killed 
animals for his food and clothing; with his 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


39 


stone ax, he fought his enemies and made 
tools to build his wigwam. He cared little for 
digging the gold hidden in the mountains; he 
knew nothing of iron or coal and their uses; 
the only food he raised was corn; and thus 
the great riches in the soil and under the 
ground remained untouched. It was not until 
the white man came that the country began to 
develop—^slowly at first, but later very 
rapidly. 

The first people who tried to settle in the 
territory that we now call the United States 
were the English and the Dutch. The Eng¬ 
lish claimed all of North America from Nova 
Scotia to northern Florida, and “from sea to 
sea.” The country had not been explored and 
they only knew the narrow strip lying along 
the coast. To settle this new country was a 
difficult task. Between 1579 and 1609 several 
attempts were made at different times by 
Raleigh, Gilbert and White to found colonies 
in what is now Virginia and Carolina. But 
the people who were brought over the sea 
found the undertaking too difficult. They 
became discouraged and homesick, and were 



40 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


unable to endure the life in the wilderness. 
Some returned to England and many died. 
The colony founded by White at Roanoke 
Island disappeared, no one knows how; pos¬ 
sibly the settlers were killed by the Spaniards 
or by the Indians. 

It was not until 1607 that a successful set¬ 
tlement was made under the leadership of 
Captain John Smith, and even this success 
cost the people great sacrifices. Indians, who 
at first were friendly, fought the colonists, 
killing many of them and burning their 
houses. Many of the colonists had come to 
this country to become rich and preferred 
searching for gold to plowing the fields until 
they were dying of hunger and disease. Had 
it not been for the good sense and energy of 
John Smith, they would all have died. The 
first town they built was called Jamestown, 
and it was the first English town on the soil 
of the present United States. 

The next colony worthy of notice was 
founded in 1620, in Massachusetts by the Pil¬ 
grims. These people left England to be free 
to worship God in the manner which they be- 




A CIVIC PRIMER 


41 


lieved to be right. They were hardy, strong 
determined men and women, positive in their 
views, severe in their morals, simple in their 
way of life. They came to the shores of Mas¬ 
sachusetts in December 1620, in their ship 
the Mayflower. There was not even an In¬ 
dian hut in sight when they came; no shelter 
of any kind welcomed them when they landed. 
They made camp in the snow-covered woods, 
passed the night steeping on the frozen 
ground, and when the dawn of their first Sun¬ 
day in the new world woke them to worship 
they had the primeval forest for their temple. 
An ordinary band of men would have given 
up and returned, but these Pilgrims, as they 
were called, stayed, resolved to realize their 
ideal, even at the cost of their lives. With¬ 
out delay, they felled trees and shaped them 
into logs of which they built their simple 
cabins. They pursued their difficult work 
without warm beds at night and with scanty 
food to satisfy their hunger. Many died that 
winter, but those who lived never once 
thought of returning and deserting the land 
where were the graves of their beloved dead. 



42 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


Plymouth was founded upon the sacrifices of 
those who loved the good of others as well as 
their own. Their hardships did not end with 
the winter; sickness, hunger, and struggles 
with the Indians harassed them, and it was 
only their wonderful courage that enabled 
them to live under these conditions. 

Fortunately, in these dark days, there were 
some very capable leaders to defend the set¬ 
tlement from attacks by Indians, and encour¬ 
age the weary and disheartened. Among 
them were Elder Brewster, Governor Brad¬ 
ford, Captain Myles Standish and Dr. Samuel 
Fuller, and to them belongs much of the credit 
for the preservation of the colony. In the 
spring, they planted corn and other vegetables 
and waited for their first crop. The suffering 
from hunger had been great and it is no won¬ 
der that there was much rejoicing when the 
first crops were gathered in. It was not only 
joy, but thankfulness that filled their hearts, 
and so a day was set apart for giving thanks, 
which became a yearly custom in the colony 
after each harvest. In later times the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States has appointed the 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


43 


last Thursday in November to be a National 
Thanksgiving Day, which has become a legal 
holiday. 

In the 17th century, England, as well as 
most of the countries of Europe, was a very 
intolerant country, only members of the Es¬ 
tablished Church being allowed to worship 
freely. All others were persecuted. We have 
seen how the Pilgrims left England for Amer¬ 
ica that they might practise their religion in 
their own way. Soon after came the Puritans 
in great numbers for the same reason. Many 
others followed in their footsteps founding 
diiferent colonies. Maryland, named in honor 
of Henrietta Maria, the Catholic wife of 
Charles I of England, was settled in 1634 by 
Lord Baltimore, whose name was later given 
to the city of Baltimore founded in 1729. The 
Quakers founded the city of Philadelphia in 
1681, naming their colony Pennsylvania in 
honor of William Penn, their leader. These 
two colonies grew very fast, since both Lord 
Baltimore and William Penn ruled their peo¬ 
ple with love and justice. Other colonies 
sprang up rapidly, one after another; among 



44 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


them North Carolina in 1663, and Georgia in 
1733. 

When we thus go through the history of 
colonization in this country we see that the 
main reason that brought these people to these 
shores w^as the great desire for freedom, re¬ 
ligious and political. A second reason for 
their coming was to better their material con¬ 
dition. This great desire for freedom was in 
the heart of every pioneer, and it was this that 
gave the founders of the United States the 
strength to stay in spite of the great hard¬ 
ships that surrounded them. It is easy to see 
that communities founded by such people as 
the early colonists could not fail to succeed, 
and preserve, for those who should come later 
to these shores, the memory of the spirit of de¬ 
votion and self-sacrifice of these early settlers. 




CHAPTER II 


THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

The colonies belonged at first to Great 
Britain, with the English King as their ruler, 
but later the colonies rose against the British 
Government, declared themselves independ¬ 
ent states, and ever since then have elected 
their own rulers. It is the purpose of this 
chapter to tell the reason for this change and 
to record the most important events of the 
Revolution. 

England, like the other European nations 
in the 18th century, fought many wars for 
power and territory. One of these wars was 
the war with France, known in Europe as the 
Seven Years’ War, 1756-1763. This war was 
to decide whether the English or the French 
were to be the masters of the continent of 
North America. The English Colonies fought 
for England, while the Canadians (French) 
and the Indians fought for France. One of 
the ablest American officers in this war, and 


46 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


for us the most interesting character, was 
George Washington, who later, in the Revolu¬ 
tionary War, became the Commander-in-Chief 
of the American army, and after the Revolu¬ 
tion, the first President of the United States. 

At first the French were victorious, because 
the English were not used to the Indian way 
of warfare and would not listen to the advice 
of the colonists; but at last defeat followed 
defeat until, finally in 1763, the French power 
in North America was completely destroyed 
and England remained supreme ruler. 

This war, however, was very costly, and 
how to get money to pay England’s big debts 
was the next and the most pressing care of 
her statesmen. Besides, it was thought neces¬ 
sary to keep part of the regular army in 
America to protect the colonists, for which 
purpose more money was needed, and the 
King and his advisers thought that the colo¬ 
nies should raise it. Up to this time, when¬ 
ever the King wanted money from the colo¬ 
nies for any reason, he would ask them for it 
through his governors, and the colonies raised 
the money if they thought it right, and re- 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


47 


fused to raise it if they did not like the pur¬ 
pose for which it was asked. But now, with¬ 
out asking them whether they were willing or 
not to pay, the Parliament passed a taxing 
measure, the Stamp Act (1765), providing 
that all legal documents must be stamped, and 
the stamp paid for. This the Americans 
would not accept. They rightly believed that 
only they themselves or their representatives 
had power to levy tax upon them. They de¬ 
clared that taxation without representation 
was tyranny. They were willing to pay their 
share of taxes, but they would not give up 
their right to levy them. 

In all the colonies this act of the Parlia¬ 
ment was denounced, English goods were 
boycotted, the people rioted wherever the 
stamped paper was being offered for sale and 
marched through the streets shouting, “Lib¬ 
erty, Property, and No Stamps!” This hap¬ 
pened more or less in all the thirteen colonies, 
and what is still more important, the colonies 
began to act together as a unit. Nine of the 
colonies met at New York in October, 1765, to 
declare their rights and plan how to stand 



48 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


against the tjT"anny of the British Govern¬ 
ment. And they did not strive in vain. Eng¬ 
lish merchants and, manufacturers were also 
against the act of Parliament, because they 
were losing their trade in America from the 
refusal of Americans to buy English goods 
until this act was repealed. The true friends 
of liberty in the English Parliament, like Pitt, 
Burke and others, were also against it. So, 
in the year 1766, in spite of the King, the 
Stamp Act was done awaj^ with, to the great 
joy of the Americans. 

But though the Stamp Act was repealed, 
England did not give up the idea of taxing 
the colonies. On the advice of Charles Town- 
shend. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Parlia¬ 
ment passed a set of laws called Townshend 
Acts, by which a tax was put on tea and some 
other articles, with a provision that soldiers 
be sent to enforce these laws. Of course this 
only embittered the colonists the more, so 
that they gathered together in great numbers 
to resist this unjust treatment by their mother 
country. They signed non-importation agree¬ 
ments by which they bound themselves not to 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


49 


buy goods from England until the taxes were 
removed, and many people would not eat, 
wear, or use any article whatsoever that had 
been brought from England. Some of the 
royal governors treated the colonists with 
contempt and gave wrong advice to the King 
of England and his ministers. One wrote, 
“Send over an army and fleet to reduce the 
dogs to reason, ’ ’ and many others shared these 
feelings. In Boston, Massachusetts, the sol¬ 
diers quarreled with the citizens, and the 
feeling between the two parties became so 
bitter that, on March 5th, 1770, when a crowd 
gathered, attracted by a quarrel between 
guards and citizens, the soldiers, in the excite¬ 
ment, flred into the crowd, killing flve and 
wounding a number of others. This is known 
as the Boston Massacre. Its effect upon the 
people was so strong that the governor of 
Massachusetts Anally found it necessary to 
withdraw the troops. In other colonies, too, 
the excitement was great, so that the English 
Parliament decided to repeal the Townshend 
Acts, leaving only the tax on tea. But the 
people did not flght for lower taxation, they 



50 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


did not fight against taxes; but for the right 
to tax themselves. It was for the rights of 
citizenship, for the rights of freemen that 
they fought. While they were taxed at all 
without their consent, they felt that their 
rights were not respected; and they would not 
be satisfied without the acknowledgment of 
those rights. Therefore the repeal of the 
Townshend Acts had no quieting effect upon 
the colonists, for the tax on tea remained. 
The storm did not cease. Tea was called “a 
pernicious weed,” people bound themselves 
not to use it at all, and wherever they could 
they stopped the unloading and the sale of it. 
In Boston the people asked the governor to 
send away the ships loaded with tea, and 
when he refused, they assembled in great 
numbers in the Old South Meeting-House 
where a plan was adopted to throw the tea 
into the sea. A band of young men dressed 
to look like Mohawk Indians, boarded the 
ships, broke open the chests and poured the 
tea into the water. In other colonies, the 
ships were either sent back without being per¬ 
mitted to unload, or if unloaded, the tea was 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


51 


left to rot, as no one would buy it or permit 
anyone else to either sell or buy it. The 
British Government could not be indifferent 
to this, and to put a stop to it, punished Mas¬ 
sachusetts severely by placing a military gov¬ 
ernor over her, by prohibiting all public meet¬ 
ings without the governor’s consent, by quar¬ 
tering troops in any place where the governor 
saw fit, by taking away from her the ^‘Que¬ 
bec Province,” and, severest blow of all, by 
closing her harbor. 

The people of Boston would have starved 
had it not been for help from the other colo¬ 
nies. Even the farmers and trappers toiling 
in the wilderness * on the frontier sent their 
contributions. The effect of all this was that 
the colonies were drawn closer together until, 
at last, they elected delegates and called the 
first Continental Congress at Philadelphia, 
where the common action of the Colonies was 
to be decided upon. They met September 5th, 
1774. 

It was Patrick Henry, the eloquent Vir¬ 
ginian, who spoke the significant words, 
“British oppression has effaced the bound- 



52 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


aries of the several colonies; the distinctions 
between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New 
Yorkers, and New Englanders are no more. 
-I am not a Virginian but an Amer¬ 
ican!” An address to the King of England 
was sent and the Declaration of Rights was 
made. The Declaration of Rights was a docu¬ 
ment setting forth such rights as we now 
fully enjoy in this country, such as trial by 
jury, freedom of speech, etc. Also, steps were 
taken to prepare for war, if the Rights should 
be denied by the British Government. Am¬ 
munition was stored in Concord and men 
were enlisted into military service, who were 
to be ready any minute. For this reason they 
were called “Minute Men.” The first battle 
took place at Lexington and Concord, where 
the British soldiers were sent to destroy the 
military stores of the Colonists. The British 
were driven back with great losses. Another 
famous battle was fought on Bunker Hill near 
Boston, in which many of the American pa¬ 
triots gave their lives for freedom. Thus was 
begun the war that was to make the thirteen 
Colonies independent. Peaceful settlement 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


53 


became impossible and the Colonies declared 
themselves independent July 4, 1776. The 
first important event of the war was the ap¬ 
pointment of George Washington as General- 
in-Chief of the American army. It was 
through him that the final victory was won 
and the United States became an independent 
Republic instead of a group of colonies be¬ 
longing to England. 

Washington was a great and able soldier, 
but his military greatness alone would not 
have enabled him to be victorious, had he not 
been great also as a man, unselfish, patient, per¬ 
sistent, always hopeful, always devoted to the 
cause of liberty. At first he could hardly do 
more than train the volunteer army made up 
of men who knew nothing of military tactics. 
And yet he had to fight at the same time, re¬ 
treating skillfully and with as small loss as 
possible, and looking for an opportunity for 
a victorious battle. Because he had untrained 
soldiers that fled as soon as they smelt pow¬ 
der, opportunity for victory was slow in com¬ 
ing, and Washington had to keep retreating. 
This depressed the Americans and roused 



54 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


bitter feeling against Washington. There 
were jealous officers who wanted Washing¬ 
ton’s position, who plotted against him and 
blamed him for the failure of the Americans. 
Almost any other man in his place would have 
resigned, embittered at the injustice of those 
for whom he was fighting and risking his life; 
but Washington loved his country too much 
to indulge his personal feelings and to seek 
his own advantage. He suffered, but he did 
not dwell upon any suffering but that of his 
country. There were traitors in his army 
who denounced him to the Continental Con¬ 
gress in charge of this war and urged the ap¬ 
pointment of another man in his place as head 
of the army; men who disobeyed him and re¬ 
joiced when the British defeated him. But 
this wonderful man would not be discouraged, 
would not give up and steadfastly believed in 
the final triumph of liberty. Not even in 
Valley Forge, when his soldiers were without 
food or clothes, when the frozen snow was 
stained with the blood from their bare feet, 
when all seemed lost,—not even then, in the 
depths of this despair, did his faith leave him. 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


55 


It is impossible to describe what he was to his 
soldiers in those dark days. Like gold he was 
tried in the fire, but his manhood, his noble, 
devoted character, stood the test and tri¬ 
umphed in the end. 

With such a leader against them, it is not 
surprising that the English were at last con¬ 
quered and the British flag was lowered be¬ 
fore him, and that the arms of Lord Corn¬ 
wallis, chief general of the British, were given 
up to him, in sign of surrender. The news 
that the British were finally conquered, that 
the Colonies were free, that the terrible war 
was over, caused the greatest possible rejoic¬ 
ing all over the country, and Washington was 
hailed as the great deliverer, the great Savior 
of His Country. 

But Washington’s work was not over with 
the ending of the war; the work of putting the 
young, inexperienced Republic on its feet fell 
largely to him. Poverty, weakness, dissatis¬ 
faction, disorder, all these things followed in 
the train of the victory over England and 
sobered the joy of the thirteen newly-formed 
United States of America. There was no one 
government for these states, but thirteen dif- 



56 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


ferent governments having no standing be¬ 
fore the countries of Europe. The soldiers 
who had served in the war and who had not 
been fully paid, w^ere rebellious; each state 
was jealous of the others ; state money was 
worthless; everything was in a condition of 
confusion and unrest. 

Some of the army thought it would be wise 
to make Washington king, thus ending the 
intolerable confusion and suffering. But 
Washington rebuked them severely, remind¬ 
ing them that the war had been fought to es¬ 
tablish a free Republic in which the citizens 
were to elect their ruler. After a great deal 
of labor and thought, with the cooperation of 
some famous men like Thomas Jefferson, 
Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and others, 
the states united into one whole, drafted the 
Constitution, a masterpiece of statesmanship, 
in which the rights and duties of the citi¬ 
zens, the States, the President, the Congress 
and the Courts of Law were established. 
This is to-day the foundation of all our laws. 

The first president of this new Union was 
George Washington, rightly called “The 
Father of His Country.” 



CHAPTER III 


THE CIVIL WAR 

George Washington was twice elected Pres¬ 
ident of the United States and might have 
been elected for the third term also; but he 
was true to his principles and refused to serve 
after the second term, believing, as he did, 
that it was not right in a republic for a man 
to be the ruler longer than two terms, so that 
no one could thus make himself king. When 
he gave his reasons for refusing, he urged the 
people to do all in their power to make the 
Union strong, to make the government of the 
Union powerful, and thus to ensure the free¬ 
dom and the enduring life of the United 
States. These words were needed, for from 
the very beginning, some of the states held 
that they were free to choose whether or not 
they would obey the Union. States’ Rights 
became a leading question and caused much 
discussion. In the south there was still slav¬ 
ery of the negroes' which many people of the 


58 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


uortherii states considered wrong. When¬ 
ever a new state was added to the Union, the 
Southerners wanted to have it a slave state, 
that is, a state in which slavery would be al¬ 
lowed; while the Northerners opposed any 
extension of slavery. Other differences arose 
and at last the southern states declared them¬ 
selves independent of the United States, 
formed their own union, which they called 
“The Confederacy,” elected their own presi¬ 
dent, Jefferson Davis, and made Eichmond, 
Virginia, their Capital. This happened in 
the year 1861, a little over sixty years after 
Washington’s death. 

As the result, a great war broke out between 
the North and the South that cost many lives 
and untold suffering. The most interesting 
and the most powerful man of those terrible 
days was President Abraham Lincoln. While 
North and South were growing more and 
more bitter, Lincoln did all he could to over¬ 
come the hard feeling and to prevent war. 
When the war came, he proved to be a prudent 
and kind Commander-in-Chief and a source 
of inspiration to the army, especially to the 



A CIVIC PRIMER 


59 


private soldiers. Although he hated slavery, 
he did not free the slaves until the right time 
came—which was after the war had broken 
out—for he wanted to have peace, to prevent 
war, and to preserve the Union of all the 
States. 

Abraham Lincoln was born in a little log 
house in Kentucky. It is wonderful that a 
boy who grew up in the woods, with a slight 
opportunity for education, should rise to the 
highest office in the country. This fact is of 
great importance, for it shows that the United 
States is a country of great opportunity, that 
every one who makes the best use of his abil¬ 
ity can succeed. In this country no one is 
asked what his birth is, what his relations 
are; everything depends upon what the man 
is himself and what use he makes of his own 
opportunities. Lincoln, at first a poor boy, 
became not only President of the United 
States, but also one of the greatest presidents 
we have ever had. Under his leadership, slav¬ 
ery was abolished and the Union preserved. 
He saved the Union, he freed the slaves, he 
led his country through hard and trying times 



60 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


until peace and order were again restored, 
but be himself was taken away by a cruel 
death. A lunatic named Booth shot him and 
plunged the whole country, the South as well 
as the North, into indescribable grief. The 
South lost in him its best friend among the 
victors. Much of the humiliation, much of 
the confusion, would have been prevented in 
the South and in the North, had Lincoln 
lived. 

Living together, mingling together, and 
working together for the common good has 
made us into a Nation. Much is due to the 
opening up of the western country, to which 
people from both north and south moved in 
great numbers, and together forming new 
states, forgot old differences, and felt that 
they were members of a larger whole, the 
Union of all the States in which Liberty and 
Justice for all must be made supreme. 



CHAPTER IV 


CONCLUSION 

These few chapters contain but the merest 
outline of what has happened in this country; 
many interesting events were necessarily 
omitted. But this short account may lead 
you to deeper and more extensive reading of 
our American history, especially to reading 
the lives of our great Americans who were the 
Builders of the Nation, and who are our in¬ 
spiration to-day. 

Reading more about these great men and 
learning what they sacrificed to make the past 
history of our country what it was, should 
induce you to gladly join in helping to make 
the future history what it should be. It is 
easy to make things worse—by neglect, sel¬ 
fishness and indifference. Our government 
good as it is can be still better and it is the 
duty of everyone to try to make it so. 

Therefore learn what the duties of a citi¬ 
zen are before you get your final papers (see 


62 


A CIVIC PRIMER 


page 8) so that when yon become a citizen 
you may be prepared to take your part in 
helping to make the government better, al¬ 
ways working for the good of your city, state 
and country, and upholding the principles of 
truth, justice and liberty. 


























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